Ceramic bodies comprising aluminum titanate may be used in a variety of applications. For example, such bodies are viable for use in the severe conditions of exhaust gas environments, including, for example as catalytic converters and as diesel particulate filters. Among the many pollutants in the exhaust gases filtered in these applications are, for example, hydrocarbons and oxygen-containing compounds, the latter including, for example, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon based soot and particulate matter.
Physical and performance-related properties of ceramic bodies can be affected by the porosity characteristics of the bodies, which, in turn, can be affected type and amount of pore formers that are added to batch compositions used to make the bodies. For example, various types of fugitive pore formers (i.e., materials that evaporate or undergo vaporization by combustion during firing of a green body) have been used to impart various porosity characteristics to ceramic bodies. However, such pore formers are often expensive, can make extrusion and drying difficult, and often require complicated firing cycles to burn out without cracking the underlying parts.
The inventors have now discovered novel ceramic-body-forming batch materials, ceramic bodies, and methods of making the same that may allow for the ability to vary or tailor the properties of these ceramic bodies, for example their pore size, porosity, pore size distribution, and microstructure without solely relying on fugitive pore formers to impart desired porosity characteristics.